In 1999, NFPA amended its Model Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility and Guidelines for Enforcement to include that each paralegal should aspire to contribute 24 hours of pro bono service annually.

Why should we be more committed to pro bono service? (continued)

How can we contribute

1.Collaboration with legal services groups and public interest organizations

Collaboration has become the buzz word of the pro bono system, which established relationships between private law firms and the bar sponsored programs, legal services groups, and public interest organizations that link them with clients.

For this collaboration network to succeed, it is critical that there are organizations to connect firm layers with pro bono cases. These referral organizations are usually organized into project areas with staff attorneys and paralegals who pre-screen cases, determine whether cases are appropriate for placement with private volunteers and distribute case listings to firm liaisons.

2.Inside law firms

Paralegals can get involved in pro bono committees that oversee the intake of pro bono matters, assign cases and track data on performance.

Some law firms use externships as a means of designating individual legal professionals to engage full-time in pro bono work. The idea is that firm attorneys and paralegals receive a sabbatical from billable work for the duration of the externship period. It provides benefits to under-funded legal services groups, which gain free staffing, and to the firms themselves, which raise their visibility, provide training to their younger associates and paralegals, and increase their overall probono hours.

A variation on the externship model, is the pro bono department, which is typically structured as an internal practice group of the law firm with designated lawyers, paralegals, and administrative staff.

3.Inside in-house legal departments

Paralegals working for in-house legal departments can also be involved in pro bono work, even if few in house departments set specific pro bono goals, track pro bono activity and factor pro bono in to paralegal evaluations.

However, those companies with large in-house departments do, in fact, tend to have more formalized programs. Coca-Cola, for example, has a pro bono committee, a training program, and a pro bono policy that explicitly encourages attorneys and paralegals to do pro bono work.

4.Paralegal students

For paralegal students, hands on clinics can be a good way to expose students to doing pro bono work. Theses clinics offer credit for work done on behalf of indigent clients under the supervision of an attorney. For example, paralegal students can get hands on experience by drafting the pro se divorce documents for a low income client.

Paralegal students can also be exposed to pro bono assistance through practicum and internships. Working for under staffed legal services and public defender offices can expose students to doing this type of work as a career, or at least, as part of their pro bono obligations

In conclusion,

pro bono has become the dominant means of dispensing free services to the poor and under-served, eclipsing other state-sponsored and non-governmental mechanisms in importance. Paralegals can play a significant role, raise pro bono's effectiveness, and get closer to the goal of pro bono service, justice for all.